Mr. Fred McBride:

I wish to update the committee on the out-of-hours service. We would have hoped to have an out-of-hours service in place to cover the entire country by the end of the fourth quarter last year, but discussions with the trade unions were slightly more protracted than we would have liked. I must say they have been positive and we put a number of options to them. They argued for a better deal for their members, understandably. To be fair, a Labour Court ruling on the working time directive meant we had to rethink some of our options with regard to affordability. We are ready to go back in with the trade unions in the coming week or so, and I am confident we can come up with an agreed solution. I must point out that we do not have a completely blank sheet with regard to the out-of-hours service. The crisis intervention service covers the greater Dublin area, an out-of-hours service covers Cork and the surrounding area, and an emergency placement service provided by Five Rivers covers the entire country. It provides emergency foster placement for children who require it.